


this dance is hers

by EllsterSMASH



Series: little pieces of us [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14885213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllsterSMASH/pseuds/EllsterSMASH
Summary: Prompt: [(32) How they feel with a weapon in their hands.]A gift arrives for the Herald.First posted July 31, 2017





	this dance is hers

**Author's Note:**

> [EmberLeo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberLeo/) illustrated this for me ([go look](https://imgur.com/gallery/UzO0klr)). SO COOL!

It arrives on a wagon filled with supplies, pillowed by grain and barley and oats. Shielan says they’re gifts from the clan’s stores. Gifts, she knows, to appease the humans who may or may not be holding her hostage.

To be honest, she’s a little surprised they bothered. It’s good to see a familiar face, though, even if he does tease her about the whole thing.

He unwinds the humble wrappings that hid its gleam from greedy eyes and places it in her upturned hands. Ironbark, smooth to the touch and stronger than steel. Perfectly balanced by the thick woven branches at one end and the white crystal on the other. A beautiful weapon, and a deadly one.

The Keeper’s staff. The jewel of Clan Lavellan.

“I don’t understand,” she says, smoothing her fingers over the well-worn surface. Mapping its imperfections. “You know I can’t accept this.”

Shielan shrugs and scratches his not-quite-beard. “Keeper said it’s yours.” He produces a letter from his pack. “This, too.”

Athi tucks the folded parchment in her waistband to read later, alone, in the privacy of her cabin, then steps back until there is space enough to move. This staff is lighter than hers, but heavier on the ends. She’ll need to compensate for the difference. There is also no blade, nor a roughened leather grip to keep her palms from slipping, only softly sanded wood.

Still, it fits perfectly in her hands, and she can’t bite back a surge of pride that she might carry such a weapon. She flips it end over end in her hands, testing its responsiveness, altering her expectations, planning any adjustments to her form.

Cullen clears his throat. “Perhaps, ah, there might be a better location for this sort of thing.”

“Relax, Commander,” she mutters and rolls her eyes. “It’s not going to ‘go off’ by accident.”

He looks thoroughly unconvinced, but remains silent–if a bit fidgety–as she runs through a quick succession of practice moves. It always feels good, feels like freedom, to move with a purpose. Feels like dancing. And this is one of her favorites. Her muscles know every step and thrust, turn and strike. And her hands are not prone to falter as they do when she pulls from the Fade. No, here she pulls from years of practice and a grace that sits in her bones. This dance is hers, and she is its master.

She rests one end in the powdery snow. It will take some getting used to, some practice, but then? Then it will be an extension of her, a part of her people, a piece of the dance.

**Author's Note:**

> [[View on Tumblr](https://ellstersmash.tumblr.com/post/163626180841/19-23-32-35-if-you-havent-done-those-yer-for)]


End file.
